More Consumers Paying Via Mobile Devices

A new survey finds that the leading in-store mobile payment methods are PayPal and bank apps.

January 04, 2016

CHICAGO – Forty-three percent of respondents to a recent Retale survey used their mobile device to pay for an item in a store, Payments Source reports. That’s a 7% bump from more than a year ago. The survey was conducted in the early part of December 2015.

Fifty percent of respondents indicated they would use PayPal for an in-store transaction with their mobile device during last year’s holiday season while 27% picked their bank’s app for mobile payments. For Apple Pay, 20% would choose that method, and 17% would go with Android Pay.

“PayPal and mobile banking apps still own the mobile payments market,” said Pat Dermody, president of Retale. “As shoppers grow accustomed to using services like Apple Pay and Android Pay, those numbers will shift, but there might be too much fragmentation to drive significant increases [in existing consumer preferences]—at least in the short term.”

The survey seems to imply that consumer acceptance of mobile payments will be driven by trust and familiarity. These numbers also suggest that consumers are beginning to expect retailers to provide ways for mobile payments in stores.

The mobile payments arena has gotten rather crowded of late, with Walmart starting tests of Walmart Pay. In addition to PayPal and banks, Apple, Samsung and Google also offer mobile payment options. Meanwhile, in early December, Congress held a hearing on consumer protection and security related to mobile payments.

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